Whenever I make my chum/bait using soured grain, I like to add garlic. Sometimes powder, but I try to use minced garlic when I can.

My question is do you ever like adding vanilla? If so, do you also add garlic too, or do you keep those seperate? An example would be making one chum with garlic as a "salty" chum and vanilla in another as a sweet chum, and either using one or the other at a time.

Just regular soured grain always works for me. Let us know if you notice a difference with the vanilla and garlic. I've used both when soaking chicken and it seemed to work.

I made 2 batches.

1 was cracked corn soured, with molasses and vanilla added.

The other was soured hen scratch with garlic, cheeses, and one other ingredient.


I called the two sweet and salty. I'd put each in a pantyhose and poke one or two holes in it, and then I tossed one of each in my hoop nets. The only place I catfish really is a small bayou next to my house. It's really shallow, knee to thigh deep in the straights at normal level. I've been setting them when we get a little flood, so the water covers my nets and there's a good current.

I'll have you know that I have been smoking them. I've caught several hundred catfish total with 1 or 2 nets set a few times. I've released most of them, but I've given about 75 fish to some people that really needed the meat if you know what I'm getting at.

I get enjoyment from making/setting nets and trying new homemade baits, that's why I'd rather just release them or give to the needy. I've only cleaned about 10 for myself in the last 6 months.

The bait works.

Plus 1

Use sour grain if it works for you. Who knows how many thousands of catfish are caught over soured grain every year.

All I was doing was coming here to share my experiences with soured grain with other ingredients, that's all.

Sounds interesting. Never thought of adding those two ingredients.

are you allowed to use nets hoop nets ? Just asking

My grandpa us to use vanilla with his cottonseed cake. He caught some big cats. I've soured my grain with bulls blood and it works great, but be ready for the smell. I'm fixing to sour some more grain up. How much vanilla do you use?

In Louisiana.

Yes. The fish in the top net are in a hoop net, the others are in a wire net.

In a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 - 3/4 full of cracked corn, I put 8 oz or so of vanilla, and 1/2 gallon molasses.

If you can smell vanilla or garlic added to your soured grain then it isn't foul enough. Chum should be so foul smelling it could have a buzzard.

Molasses has sugar which is a catalyst that makes it ferment quicker..there will b zero molasses left if your grain has fermented properly..yeast eats the sugar...strait sour milo always works for me so never experimented with other ingredients.

Chum doesn't have to be so stinky you can't stand it for it to work. Even though I sometimes use soured grain, many of us and myself also use cattle cubes to draw them in. Cubes don't stink and don't take long to work either. Even my homemade dough bait isn't that bad if you like garlic and cheese and it's is edible too I have fished it side by side with the stinky brand name bait and always caught more on mine.
Chemdawg's cheese bait is another one that catches and is not foul smelling. His bait works as good as mine.

If sour grain dont get um in the area nothing added will help. Too many people try to over think fishin chum 3 or 4 places go back to 1st place drop some worms or whatever down, no fish in 30 min go to place #2 and so on till ya find um